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In my quest to bake authentic German breads, I picked up the following baking products during a recent trip to Germany:
From left to right: whole grain rye sourdough, tart glaze, rye flour

The flour and sourdough were purchased in order to try some recipes from a book purchased on a previous Germany trip:

Sauerteig or sourdough can be found in wet or dry form at any grocery in Germany.

Tortenguss or tart glaze comes in a clear or red color. I didn’t bother putting a glaze on the last fresh fruit tart I made, but got this to have in my pantry just in case.

You might have noticed that the bag of flour is labeled “Type 1150”. Germany has different types of flour that are determined by their ash content. I have already done some reading into this and will compile my research into another post.

Easy access to fresh yeast (hefe), fresh/dry sourdough, instant tart glaze and other specialty baking ingredients is a testament to Germany’s baking culture. However, just as many Koreans rarely make their own kimchi anymore (although there is a market for kimchi refridgerators), many Germans don’t bake since they have easy access to high quality and a wide variety of breads.

Germany might not be known for its culinary prowess, but they do know their potatoes. So I picked up this booklet (? not quite a book and not really a magazine):

According to the European Cultivated Potato Database, Germany has 944 registered varieties. The only other country that comes even close to Germany is the Netherlands with 646.

Recipes are sorted by festkochend and mehlig kochend. Also included are recipes specifically for purple potatoes, bamberger-hörnchen and other uncommon varieties. The last section is devoted to recipes for those of similar culinary qualities to potatoes, but are not related to them: sweet potatoes and topinambur or sunchokes (Jewish artichoke). I had seen sunchokes at the market before, but never knew what it was or what to do with it. I’m looking forward to trying it at some point, especially now that it’s about to be in season.

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This weekend we were invited to a party by a Swedish friend to celebrate the completion of their kitchen renovation and house expansion. Another friend named the party SMÖRGÅS BÖRGÅS. Ok, it’s not really a word and a odd interpretation of the actual Swedish word “smörgåsbord”; the equivalent of Häagen-Dazs, another made-up word with randomly placed accents.

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I was craving quiche!
Combined with the fact that I was suffering from jet lag and was awake at 4am earlier this week, I decided to bake a quiche. Rather than follow a recipe, I used a couple (Cook’s Illustrated and Sehr Gut Backen) as guidelines for the crust.

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In Atlanta, I had a little time so I stopped by Intown Quilters. They are having an anniversary special – a free fat quarter with a $12 purchase. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the Michael Miller Wee Wander collection from which I really want a few fabrics with a couple projects in mind. However, I was really drawn to this Cotton + Steel Basics fabric with a metallic detail finish, so I picked up a 1/2 yard of one color along with two fat quarters of a couple other colors.

In addition, I got a 1/2 yard of this Snow White fabric from Kawaii from Hawaii. I’ve always been fascinated by myths and fairy tales and this Asian Snow White is particularly fun.

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Inspired by a heirloom cut chenille baby blanket tutorial posted by Aesthetic Nest, I decided to finally try my hand at making a “quilt” for some friends of mine who recently had a baby. Making a quilt, has been on my to-do list for many years now and although not a quilt in the true sense with any piecework involved, it still qualifies as a quilt by having layers of fabric sewn together. What appealed to me is the tactile texture of the hand cut chenille and style that seems to really follow the vintage aesthetic of the gift recipients.